John Calipari unsure of Sahvir Wheeler's condition following first-half injury

Kentucky lost to No. 21 LSU by five in Baton Rouge tonight, but the Cats were without their top two guards for a significant portion of the game. At the 16:07 mark of the first half, Sahvir Wheeler ran into a screen by LSU seven-footer Efton Reid near midcourt and crumpled to the court. After a few minutes on the floor, Wheeler was helped to the locker room with assistance, looking dazed. He did not return.

After Kentucky’s eventual 65-60 loss, John Calipari told reporters he had not yet been briefed on Wheeler’s condition.

“I don’t know yet,” Calipari said, adding later on radio, “I know nothing right now. Hopefully, he’s going to be alright.”

With Wheeler out, the Cats struggled. Eleven assists, the fewest since the loss at Notre Dame. Fifteen turnovers, tied for the third-most this season. TyTy Washington and Davion Mintz handled point guard duties with Wheeler out to mixed success. Washington had to be helped to the bench around the nine-minute mark in the second half and went to the locker room with assistance. He returned to the game at the six-minute mark but was clearly not himself, limping badly. He checked back out two minutes later and did not return. Afterward, Calipari said he believed Washington was battling cramps.

Calipari on Wheeler: “He’s the engine on this thing”

Even without their top two ball-handlers, the Cats were able to cut LSU’s lead from nine with 2:35 left to one with 0:27 left. Unfortunately, Mintz turned the ball over twice in the last 20 seconds, time running out in a flurry.

“When Sahvir went down, he’s the engine on this thing,” Calipari said. “He gets us all moving.”

“It was a huge adjustment,” Kellan Grady said of Wheeler’s injury. “Sahvir, he’s our point guard. He’s the engine to our car if you will and he’s the guy that’s able to orchestrate our offense and really kind of control the game and get us out in transition. So obviously, it’s a really serious adjustment on the road and in an atmosphere like this when he plays 3:53 and we have to adjust on the fly. But like I said, you can’t question our resolve or our fight.”

Calipari said matters got even tougher when Washington went down with cramps.

“I was just trying to get a W. I was going to play-to-play where normally I’m letting [Sahvir] go and he’ll decide what we’re doing. I ended up, you know — and when TyTy went down, it was a totally different ballgame there too. So, now, we’re just, let’s try to get it up the court and get something, a good look a the basket, which is not how I want to coach. But you’re trying to win, so you’re doing what you have to to try to win.”

Without one of the top weapons on both ends of the court

Like Grady, Jacob Toppin praised his teammates for their fight but said the losses of Wheeler and Washington were too much to make up for in the end.

“Without Sahvir, it took a toll on us but we had to adjust and I think we adjusted a little bit but definitely without Sahvir today, it hurt us a lot, and down the stretch, TyTy, he was cramping or whatever was happening with him, so we lost a couple of guys but we still fought and we didn’t come out with a W so we have things to work on and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Toppin said without Wheeler, the Cats lost one of their biggest strengths on both ends of the court.

“Definitely the speed. We definitely continue to get in transition offense but the speed that he brings to the game, even if people try to sag off, he can still get into the paint and find others. His defensive accountability is very low so he is very good on the defensive end. He doesn’t allow a lot of points on the defensive end and he’s very disruptive on the defensive end so that’s something we lacked in today’s game but things happen.”

Hopefully, we’ll get some more clarity on Wheeler’s condition soon.